Beyond Words
by AzaleaBlue
Summary: For some weird reason, everyone keeps asking Ron the same question. Fluff.


_a/n: __ This is just a feel-good, fluff piece I wrote for my besties. Hope all you guys enjoy it too!_

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_3rd Year_

"When will you tell her you fancy her?"

Ron looked up from the chessboard where his knight was in imminent danger of getting mauled by Bill's rook and stared incredulously at his eldest brother.

"You're talking to me?!" he asked, staring around and noticing that the rest of their family was huddled at the table, looking through what appeared to be their holiday pictures.

"Of course I'm talking to you," replied Bill, casually moving one of his pawns.

Ron grinned and pushed his queen three steps ahead. "No clue what you're talking about," he replied honestly, cheerfully.

" 'Who' I'm talking about, not 'what'," corrected Bill, shifting his knight away from harm's way.

"You know, you sound exactly like-"

"-Hermione?" Bill interjected,

"Yeah!" he grinned.

"And you still don't know who I'm talking about?"

Ron literally wracked his brains for a full minute before shrugging. "Erm…_No_?"

Bill let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head, chuckling to himself. "I guess I'll give you a few years to find out for yourself."

…..

_4th Year_

"Have you told her yet?"

Ron picked up one especially fat gnome out of the ground, swirling the creature over his head before letting go. It flew off for around twenty feet before landing on the other side of the field. Laughing, he dusted off his hands and grinned at the twins.

"Of course I've told her! She's coming down for the World Cup, isn't she,"

Fred and George looked at each other gleefully and shared a smile which alerted his brain to keep a lookout for danger; that look never bored well for him.

"We're talking about Hermioneee," smirked George in a singsong voice.

"What's gotten into you?" he asked, looking around for more gnomes.

"Nothing, Ronniekins. So what have you told her?" asked Fred gleefully.

"Errr…that Dad got tickets for the World Cup and we are expecting her?" he added, wondering what he was missing.

"You know, Fred, we really need to ask Mum if Ron got swapped with some other kid at the hospital. _Our _brother can't possibly have the brain of a troll_._"

"Oye!" he yelled, but his brothers ignored him.

"I bet he'll find out by the end of this year," suggested George.

"Tch- Christmas," quipped Fred, pretending as if Ron wasn't right next to them.

"Find out what?" he asked annoyed. But they began placing bets instead, and he fumed, grabbing hold of another gnome that was trying to sneak away.

…

_5th Year_

"I'm sure Hermione Granger knows."

Ron concentrated harder, and by the third try, the cushion he was trying to summon, zoomed into his hands.

"Of course she does. She knows everything, doesn't she," he replied, glancing at Luna who was supposed to practice Summoning Charms, but for reasons best known to her, was waving her wand in lazy patterns around his head.

"By the way, what does she know?" he asked. He was sure Hermione knew a lot of stuff but if Luna was talking about Wakspurts or something on those lines, he was sure Hermione would rather _not_ know.

"She knows you fancy her- or should I say, _love_ her?" Luna replied promptly and continued to wave her wand, while Ron narrowly missed getting hit by all the hundred or so cushions that came hurtling towards him.

After they escaped the mayhem that issued with the cushions barging in all directions- Ron wasn't even sure what he had done to cause it- he found Luna alone near the bookshelves, going through a spell book.

" Er…Luna?"

"Yes, Ron?" she quipped eagerly, giving him her full attention.

"Why did you say what you said? I mean, what made you think I fa-fancy Her- her?" he whispered. _Merlin forbid, no one could know he was even uttering these words._

"Oh that's simple!" she replied happily, "You have so many Flutterbirds fluttering around your head each time you talk to her or even as much as look at her!"

"Oh!" he exclaimed, stunned into silence for minutes before he found his voice back. "Are-are these 'Flutterbirds' visible to everyone?" he asked, feeling like he had been knocked with a bludger, coz he was damn sure he wasn't making any sense. But then, he didn't want anything fluttering around his head telling Hermione what he was thinking- _not right now at least_.

Luna seemed to ponder for a bit. "I don't think so-" she said after a while, "-if they did, Harry would know Ginny fancies him, wouldn't he?"

….

_6th Year_

"So…when are you going to tell her?"

Ron looked up from his cauldron that was hissing rather loudly and giving off purple fumes intermittently to stare at Neville, confused.

"Tell whom what exactly?" he inquired, glancing a look at Neville's potion. It seemed the bloke was doing better since Slughorn took over Potion, but not by a large margin. The clumpy sludge was a brilliant shade of indigo which Neville was stirring frantically with his wand, sweat dripping from his forehead.

"Hermione, 'course!" replied Neville, gritting his teeth as he attempted to pull out his wand which the potion-if it could be even called that- was now attempting to swallow.

Ron paused, his wand hovering mid-air as Neville's words struck him with the power of an errant bludger. He glanced at the subject of their conversation- she had taken up the table furthest from him, right in front of the teacher's desk. He could see the red fumes emerging from her cauldron as she twirled her wand in a circular motion, a self-satisfied smile playing on her lips.

"No clue what you're talking about, mate," he replied dismissively, pretending to be engrossed in his book. For a while, there was only the sound of Neville huffing before the bloke finally managed to retrieve his wand and drop it with a clank on the table. He wiped his brows on his sleeve and picked up his own book, unaware that Ron's ears were still perked, keen to know what he was talking about.

"-tell her you fancy her," Neville said suddenly when Ron had almost assumed that the discussion was over. He was so shocked that he dropped his pestle, which missed the table and landed instead on the floor with a loud clunk- narrowly missing his foot.

The soft murmur of the class died down to an abrupt silence, all faces suddenly turned at his direction. He blew out softly through his mouth as his eyes found Hermione.

One look and she turned away…

"Sorry…" he muttered to no one in particular, reluctantly taking his eyes off her and bent over to pick up the pestle, secretly glad that Lavender had caught a nasty bite in the Care of Magical Creatures and was currently resting in the infirmary. He wasn't happy about her injury- just that, she wasn't around to hear the conversation they were having.

"I don't know why you'd say that, Nev," he replied, pounding his beetles a little harder than necessary, "-I am with Lavender." His words sounded hollow, even to his ears.

Right next to their table, he noticed Harry pouring something in his cauldron. He seemed to be doing pretty good with his potion too- _no surprises there,_ Ron thought a little bitterly to himself.

"Yeah, I know that," replied Neville, somehow still unwilling to let the discussion rest, "-but we've all been wondering why, since it's evident you fancy Hermione."

Ron wondered if it would be worth it to intentionally drop something heavy on his foot, injure himself just to escape this interrogation. Then he remembered that Lavender was in the infirmary too. _Nope, he'd have to think of something else. _Grumbling to himself, he chucked the finely powdered beetles into his cauldron and whisked the contents furiously.

The potion period trudged on slowly, and he was least worried about his less-than-satisfactory potion affecting his grades when he escaped the classroom half an hour later; his mind on the girl who had disappeared from the crowd of students filtering out as if she had disapparated.

_But you can't disapparate within Hogwarts! _his brain reminded automatically, leaving him feeling miserable and extremely furious at himself.

….

_7th Year: Beginning, at the Burrow_

"Tell her," Ginny muttered discretely as they set the table.

Ron looked up, his eyes finding Hermione easily at the far end of the kitchen where she was helping Fleur slice up the bread. He noticed her tired smile, remembering the moments that very afternoon when she'd arrived, and confided in him that she'd carried out what she had planned. They had stayed holding each other for a very long time, separating only when Ginny had come knocking at his bedroom door.

"It's too early," he confided in his sister, "besides, she has way too much on her plate. She doesn't need the distraction with- with the task at hand."

Ginny stopped placing the dishes suddenly, and when she looked up at him, Ron was sure he'd never ever seen her so miserable. Despite everything, he had an insane urge to punch his best mate into a pulp.

"She might not need the distraction, Ron, but I'm sure she needs the hope."

..

_7th Year: On the run_

"You really need to tell her."

Ron poured the lightly coloured water that was supposed to be their 'tea' into three mugs, without bothering to look at Harry.

"I dunno," he replied automatically, handing Harry his tea and picking up the other two.

"At least give it a try," coaxed Harry as they moved towards their dining area.

"Is it even necessary," Ron pondered aloud, "I know she knows."

"She does?"

Ron took a sip from his mug before placing both their mugs on the table and Accio-ing his jacket. "She knows I love her," he responded, pulling on the jacket over his jumper. Only when he made to pick up the mugs again he realised Harry's shocked expression.

"Erm…I was talking about convincing her to shift near a Muggle village tomorrow?" mumbled Harry, amusement marked all over his features. "But to answer you, she has to be really daft to not know, which we know, she most certainly isn't."

….

_Year 7: Shell Cottage_

Hermione, still weak from her attack at the Manor, limped out of her room, supported heavily by Ron. But once at the last landing, she lost the little energy she had mustered and was forced to rest her back against the bannister to catch her breath.

"I told you, you should've had your dinner in your room," Ron told her, grabbing her firmly around the waist.

She sighed, coaxing her aching muscles to cooperate, allowing her weight to rest against him instead. "Fleur has so much on her plate already, Ron. I don't want to give her more trouble," she replied.

Ron huffed and shook his head, and in one swoop picked her up in his arms. "Ron!" she admonished, blushing as her arms wrapped around his neck, "you really don't need to!"

"Shhh," he told her, pressing his lips to her temple in a chaste kiss before carefully carrying her down the steps.

..

From the far corner of the living room, Bill noticed the scene unfolding.

"Do you theenk he has told her?" Fleur whispered next to him, beaming.

"Maybe he has-" he chuckled.

_Maybe they didn't even need the words, _he pondered quietly to himself as Ron lowered Hermione carefully on the couch.

Clearly, what they shared was beyond what words could even begin to describe.

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I hope you guys liked it! Please drop me a review if possible? Thanks!


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